UPDATE 2-Airbus faces deadlock over French helicopter development loan

PARIS, March 20 (Reuters) - Talks between Airbus Group
and the French government over the financing for a new
helicopter have hit an impasse, raising questions about where
thousands of assembly and supplier jobs will be located, two
people familiar with the matter said.

Code-named X6, the project being looked at by the Airbus
Helicopters division calls for a replacement for the
twin-engined Super Puma, a workhorse of the offshore oil
industry.

Airbus Group has been in negotiations for months with the
French government for a development loan similar to those used
by the company's main planemaker division, and which could
amount to several hundred million euros.

Such a system has been in place for previous helicopter
developments including the just-unveiled X4, now known as the
H160.

However, talks have got stuck over the mechanism for any
financing amid French budgetary pressures, the people said.

"Things are at an impasse and Airbus has started talking
about transferring the project to Germany," said one of the
people familiar with the discussions.

Another said if talks break down, locations to be considered
could include "anywhere in the world where there is a strong
desire for industrial offset" such as Spain, Poland or Mexico.

Airbus Helicopters Chief Executive Guillaume Faury told
Reuters last year that Poland could become one of its core
nations as it bids for defence work there.
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